Darker than Black
| image = | kanji = 黒の契約者 | romanji = Dākā Zan Burakku | genre = , | created by = Tensai Okamura | published by = | original run = August 8, 2007 - current | volumes = 4 | directed by = Tensai Okamura | written by = Tensai Okamura | music by = | studio = | licensed by = | network = , , | english network = | original run = April 5, 2007 - September 8, 2007 | episodes = 25 | extra = Darker than Black manga Darker than Black: Dark Flowers }} Darker than Black (黒の契約者, Dākā Zan Burakku; romanized as DARKER THAN BLACK in Japan) is an anime television series, created, directed and written by Tensai Okamura and animated by . It premiered across Japan from April 5, 2007, with its satellite television premiere in Japan on in May 2007. The music for the series is composed by . The series has also been adapted into two manga series, which are serialized in Monthly Asuka and in Young Gangan. The anime also was awarded Best Original Anime of The Year by GoGoplex, a popular magazine for teens. Plot The series of Darker than Black is split into two anime series and two manga series. Darker than Black: The Black Contractor Darker than Black: The Black Contractor (黒の契約者, Dākā Zan Burakku - Kuro no Keiyakusha) * Plot: Ten years ago, an inscrutable and abnormal territory known as Hell's Gate appeared in Tokyo, altering the sky and wreaking havoc on the landscape. The real stars disappeared, replaced by false stars. During this time, people possessing various special abilities emerged, each capable of different supernatural feats - these are known as Contractors. Each fake star has a corresponding Contractor, which reacts to their activities. As such, Contractors are usually identified by their star's catalogue number. Kept secret from the masses, these individuals are known to murder in cold blood, smothering unnecessary emotions with logic and rationale. Their incredible abilities, however, are gained at the cost of their humanity - Contractors are thus named because of an involuntary compulsion to "pay the price" each time their power is used, which can range from eating particular foods and completing meaningless tasks, to self-harm and having their bodies change in peculiar ways. Various nations and organizations around the world train and utilize Contractors as spies and assassins, resulting in violent battles for valuable objects and information. Following the disastrous Heaven's War, the lost its dominant position as a superpower to a mysterious organization named the Syndicate. The story revolves around a Chinese contractor codenamed Hei as he undertakes various espionage and assassination missions in Tokyo under the direction of the aforementioned Syndicate. Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor (流星の双子(ジェミニ), Dākā Zan Burakku - Ryūsei no Jemini; literally, "Darker than Black: Twins of the Meteor") * Plot: The storyline setting begins in , and takes place between Russia and . Hei and Yin are now on the run after betraying the Syndicate in the previous anime. Two years have passed since then. After leaving Japan, Hei encounters Suou Pavlichenko, a 13 year old Eurasian girl who becomes embroiled in the war and politics of the various factions and Contractors vying for power. Meanwhile, Hell's Gate remains standing in Tokyo, after Hei's efforts to stop the Saturn Ring anti-Gate particle weapon from activating. Although Contractors are safe from the danger of having their existences erased, this does not prevent new and old Contractors from abusing their powers. As Misaki Kirihara and her team in the Public Security Bureau deal with the increasing Contractor cases, she also has to keep the Syndicate at bay, who has major positions in the Japanese police and intelligence bureaus around the world. Characters Main Characters Hei : The main protagonist and an elite Contractor with the Messier Code BK-201. In his team, Hei acts as the spy and assassin, swiftly dealing death without fail. Hei's "mundane identity" is a gentle-hearted student from named Li Shengshun (李舜生(リ・シェンシュン) Ri Shengshun), but when "working" he takes on the role of a seemingly (at first) affectless and ruthless killer nicknamed The Black Reaper; this alias was earned based on stories of BK-201's accomplishments as an assassin during the war at Heaven's Gate. His huge appetite, lack of the typical rational reasoning demonstrated by all Contractors and seeming lack of obeisance (the 'cost' paid for using Contract Powers) shroud his true character in mystery. Part of an organization with unknown ambitions known only as the Syndicate, Hei is searching for information regarding his sister Pai; Pai was a Contractor - the original BK-201, in fact - who disappeared during the implosion of Heaven's Gate several years prior. It is only after her disappearance that Hei gains Contractor abilities (in particular, the same abilities his sister had) as well as the BK-201 designation. Prior to the incident at Heaven's Gate, Hei was not considered a Contractor and lacked any supernatural powers; he also despised fighting. However, he still accompanied Pai for the duration of the Heaven's Gate war, using his physical abilities in martial arts and other combat techniques. Hei's Contract allows him to generate and manipulate electricity, and to alter matter at a quantum level. Hei is hotly pursued by the Japanese government for his suspected involvement in multiple assassinations. It is later revealed that Hei is not a true Contractor, but has "merged" with his sister's powers when she died. This also explains why Hei has no payment for his contract. Yin : Support personnel in Hei's team. Her primary function is to use her observation ability to locate individuals, usually assassination targets, for the team. Yin is a "Doll", a type of medium that came into existence with the appearance of Hell's Gate. Dolls have an affinity for certain substances or elements which, when they are in contact with that substance, allow them to project "observation specters" to any location the substance is also present, and let the Dolls remotely view that location. Yin's medium substance is water. Like all Dolls, Yin seems to be incapable of understanding or displaying any type of emotion, and is often very passive and quiet; however, she gradually reveals that she is not entirely devoid of personality, sometimes making involuntary movements (like grabbing Hei's arm) that seem to indicate some kind of attachment to Hei and the other members of her team. Yin shares an exact resemblance to and possesses memories of a girl named Kirsi (last name unknown), who lived in Finland and was studying the piano under the tutelage of famed pianist Eelis Kostinen. Huang : Huang's position can be interpreted as that of field supervisor. He is the only normal human on the team and primarily serves as a strategic advisor. He has a general dislike for Contractors and Dolls and voices it regularly in spite of having to work alongside three of them. Huang is also the only member of the team that seems to have consistent direct contact with the Syndicate, relaying the Syndicate's orders to the team and occasionally sharing information that he has learned from them. Outside of "jobs," Huang has very little to do with the other team members. In spite of his said-dislike of Contractors, Huang sacrifices his life at the end of the first season in order to help the team stop an experiment that would kill all Contractors if completed. Mao : A Contractor who has lost his original body and now resides within that of a black cat. As the cat's brain is not fully capable of containing Mao's human consciousness, a server installed in his collar is utilized to support some of it. If he were to lose contact with said server, he would become no different from an ordinary cat. Possibly related to his computer-based existence, Mao shows some proficiency as a hacker. His Messier Code is HM-432. A very practical character, he is very interested in watching Hei react to situations in an unorthodox manner. Although he fears the Syndicate's disapproval and on occasion is able to receive direct orders from the top, he often protects the members of his team by withholding information about them from the Syndicate. His contract allows him to possess other animal bodies, although he sometimes has difficulty adjusting to them. In season 2, it is revealed that Mao lost his body when an explosion occurred during his mission to spy on the activities and research of Professor Pavlichenko, Suou's father. Since losing his human body seems to be considered an extreme form of obeisance, he can use his Contract power of transference freely. After the dissolution of the Syndicate and the events at Hell's Gate, Mao loses contact with his server. However he is found by the CIA and given a new server, identity and body, acting as Suou's pet flying squirrel. Misaki Kirihara : The Section-Chief of the Foreign Affairs Division 4 who investigates incidents involving Contractors. Misaki has long brown hair and glasses and rarely smiles or laughs. She has a strong sense of justice and a sharp intuition. Misaki became a policewoman in order to protect the weak, has a distaste for smokers due to their smell, and is sensitive about the exposure of her body. She drives a blue Porsche 997 Carrera in the series. Misaki likes eating greasy food but claims to stay fit because she works out. Her father is Superintendent Supervisor Naoyasu Kirihara of the National Police Agency. She is obsessed with finding the identity of BK-201, whom she suspects is involved in many of her cases. Throughout the series, she encounters Hei in his alternate persona "Lee" (as Hei/Lee is spying on her), and it is implied that she becomes attracted to Lee, unaware that he is the person she is hunting. Later in the second season, she is scouted and recruited by Kobayashi from Section Three of the Japanese Intelligence which is formed after the final event of season one. Throughout the series, she is seen to primarily use Smith & Wesson 908S as her main side arm. Kana Shinō (manga only) : Kana is the main character of the first manga. While exploring the mystery of her father's "death", she meets Hei. She is kind and caring. Her mother was killed by her father, and her father is killed by his boss. Character types * Human * Contractor: Contractors are individuals who have gained superhuman powers due to the appearance of the Hell's Gate and Heaven's Gate. The existence of Contractors is kept a secret from the general public by most governments around the world, but they are well-known to the higher echelons of society and in the criminal underworld. Contractors possess two other traits that give them a rather sinister reputation: the need to perform Obeisance, which is a bizarre, obsessive compulsive "payment" for the use of their powers, and a generally pragmatic, logical world view. This is described by the Contractors themselves as a lack of emotion in general, but not much evidence exists to verify this claim. Many Contractors exhibit at least some forms of emotion, including love, joy, guilt, and sorrow. * Moratorium: an intermediate between a Contractor and a Doll. Moratoria appear to be people with Contractor powers who do not require remuneration as part of their power. Unlike Contractors, they do not have control of their powers, shifting into a hypnotic state of unconsciousness as they use them. They don't give off Lancelnopt Synchotron radiation or have the usual red glow in their eyes while using their powers. Unlike Contractors, they retain a normal emotional range while not using their powers. Moratoria also suffer from severe mental trauma as a result of their power. According to Mao, the chance of a Moratorium morphing into a Contractor is near zero, but possible. During the process they also gain an Obeisance and adopt a Contractor's mentality. Only one instance of this morphing is seen in the series. * Doll: Dolls are emotionless "mediums" created to mimic the forms of humans. Dolls can form a variety of functions; the most commonly seen in the series is their use of observer spirits, which serve as reconnaissance. Dolls have different mediums through which they can send their observer spirits and must be in contact with this medium while observing; for example, Yin's medium is water, through which she can send her observer spirit anywhere else there is water. Setting The setting of Darker than Black is the planet of . A good majority of the story takes place in , but it is not uncommon for the series to switch to other settings, such as . Media Information Darker than Black was conceptualized by Tensai Okamura and produced by Bones and Aniplex. The series premiered on Tokyo Broadcasting System and Mainichi Broadcasting System's Thursday late night anime broadcasting timeslot, replacing the Sunrise series on April 5, 2007, and similar to Code Geass incorporated corporate sponsorship of Japan News Network partners and , where episodes of the series was streamed every week during the series' broadcast run. It completed its initial run on September 27, 2007, and received its broadcasting satellite premiere on Animax from May 8, 2007 to October 23, 2007. The series was also aired in English on Animax Asia, Animax's English language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia from December 2008 onwards. The series has also been released in Japan by Aniplex across nine DVDs, each containing three episodes, except for the first DVD, which had only two. The ninth and final DVD included an original video animation, which expanded upon the romantic relationships between characters. The DVDs were released between July 25, 2007 and March 26, 2008 by Aniplex. FUNimation received the license for the series in Region 1 and has released one DVD compilation with two more coming in the future. The first English DVD was released on November 25, 2008 and the second and third DVDs were released on January 20, 2009 and March 10, 2009 respectively. Volume 4 was released on May 5, 2009 with Volume 5 released on June 23, 2009. Volume 6 was released on August 11, 2009 and is now available. In May 2010, Funimation released the entire first season in a complete box set; it was originally released in March, but was recalled due to a defective disk. The Blu-ray Box was released in Japan on September 30, 2009 with a guidebook with several unreleased music tracks not available in the OSTs. The series made its North American television debut when it started airing on the FUNimation Channel September 6, 2010. A document containing information about Bones staff and production details, was leaked onto the Japanese filesharing site uploader.jp, within the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format, on July 2008.19 Among other details, including confidential contact information in regards to Bones staff members, it revealed that a second Darker than Black and series was in production and were being directed by Tensai Okamura and respectively. This information regarding Fullmetal Alchemist, which had never been previously released, was later proven to be true on January 2009. In an official statement posted on Bones' official website, co-founder and president Masahiko Minami claimed that the document was not released by the studio themselves but by an unnamed third-party. In a later statement, Minami also stated in regards to the two new series, "It hasn't been decided yet. We are interested in doing them. As original science-fiction works, they were extremely fascinating. With these kinds of dramatic story lines, I feel that there's a lot we could do potentially." Six months later, however, the second series for Fullmetal Alchemist was confirmed to be in production with Yasuhiro Irie as director, thus confirming the document's validity. The second Darker than Black series was confirmed in the 12th issue of Square Enix's Young Gangan Magazine. In the 14th issue of Young Gangan, the title was revealed as''' Darker than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini''' (DARKER THAN BLACK-流星の双子- Dākā Zan Burakku -Ryūsei no Gemini-'', lit. "Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor"). The sequel began airing in October 2009 and ended in December 2009. At Anime Expo 2010, Funimation Entertainment announced that they licensed the second season and will be released in the future. A manga, illustrated by Nokiya, was serialized in ''Monthly Asuka. released the series to two tankōbon on August 8, 2007 and January 26, 2008 respectively. The series has been licensed for a North American release by . A second manga, illustrated by , the original character designer for the anime, finished serializing in Square Enix's Young Gangan seinen magazine under the title Darker than Black: Shikkoku no Hana in March 2011. This is a separate one from the first and it is a new story taking place one year after the events of the anime. Category:Darker than Black